Pirates fortify bullpen with veteran Kirby Yates

Yates came on with a 1-0 lead to protect. The 39-year-old hurler made things interesting by plunking Dillon Dingler to open the ninth inning. He then battled back to get Spencer Torkelson on a fly ball to left field before James Outman swiped second base to put the tying run in scoring position. Yates then walked Riley Greene before getting Kerry Carpenter on a fly ball to left field for the second out. Hao-Yu Lee followed with a two-run double that gave the Tigers their first lead of the day and put Yates in position for a loss.

It’s been a bit difficult for Yates to get in a groove since very few save opportunities come up for the Angels. Still, he locked this one down and has only allowed one run over his last 12 appearances. It’s been easy to overlook that he’s actually having a fine season with a 3.00 ERA across 24 appearances, but just three saves.

Yates came into a tie game in the ninth and gave up a groundball single, a sac bunt and then a long single off the wall in left to end the game. It was a tough break for a reliever who has been very good of late with little to show for it. It was the first run he’d allowed since June 22 and the first earned run since June 8. He’s still a candidate for saves in the Angels’ pen, though he has earned just two so far.

The 39-year-old Yates had 41 saves for the Padres in 2019, 33 for the Rangers in 2024 and now 26 in his other 10 seasons as a big leaguer. He should stay in the mix for saves in Anaheim, but his velocity is down 1.5-2 mph from last year and about three mph from his prime, making him difficult to rely on.

Yates was pitching with the Angels down 6-0 in the ninth, so this was hardly a crucial appearance for the 39-year-old. Still, it was nice to see him average 91 mph with his fastball for just the second time this season and fan three batters for the first time. His average fastball tonight was still down 1.7 mph from last year, and there’s little reason to expect big things going forward. However, there’s no one in the Angels pen who is clearly a better bet than Yates at the moment.

Brought in with a 4-3 lead, Yates blew the save after Jeremy Peña singled, stole second base and scored on a Christian Walker single. After the game, manager Kurt Suzuki said Yates was closing tonight because that’s what the Angels signed him to do in the offseason, which was pretty amusing because Suzuki made no such claim while declaring the ninth an open competition this spring. Signing Yates didn’t seem like such a bad idea then, but his velocity has been down about two mph from last year. Maybe he’ll get a little better than his current 5.23 ERA, but it’s hard to be overly optimistic.

Yates allowed a single, a double and a sac fly to put the Rockies on top. Actually, all five batters he faced had hard-hit balls against him. It’d be fun to see Yates step up as the Angels’ closer, but the stuff just isn’t there at this point. The hardest of his six fastballs tonight checked in at 91.2 mph. The Rockies swung at seven of his 10 pitches and made contact every time.

Yates failed in his first chance for a save with the Angels on Wednesday, but he was able to convert this one without issue. The 39-year-old didn’t allow a hit, and he struck out a batter while throwing 9-of-11 pitches for strikes. Yates has plenty of closing experience, but it’s tough to trust him even before you consider how bad the Angels are.

Yates was pitching with a lead for the first time in five appearances since coming off the IL, though that had less to do with his status than the fact that the Angels have done little but trail lately. Up 5-3, they went to Ryan Zerferjahn in the seventh tonight, only to watch him hit back-to-back batters with one out. Sam Bachman came in and, after allowing one inherited runner to score, kept the A’s scoreless through the eighth. That led to Yates taking over in a one-run game, but McNeil sent a ball 364 feet down the right-field line to even things up. The Angels ended up losing in 10. Yates has allowed three runs in five innings since coming off the IL, and his velocity is down a bit more than two mph from last year. He’s probably not going to run away with the closer’s role in Anaheim.

It’s theoretically possible that Yates takes over the closing role in Los Angeles considering Ryan Zeferjahn and Sam Bachman appears to be the only obstacles standing in his way at the moment. However, he got hit hard in a couple rehab outings where his fastball velocity was down considerably. A wait and see approach seems like the correct move here, but Yates is probably worth a speculative roster spot in extremely deep leagues where saves are hard to find on the waiver wire.